FREMONT, Neb. – The College of Saint Mary volleyball team has only eight losses on the entire season. Unfortunately, three of them have been to Midland University.

The latest came Saturday night in the opening round of the Great Plains Athletic Conference Postseason Tournament. The Warriors entered as the No. 4 seed in the tournament and ranked No. 18 in the country. The Flames entered as the No. 5 seed in the tournament and ranked No. 8 in the country.

Midland defeated CSM 3-1 by scores of 25-20, 25-20, 21-25 and 25-19. The Flames are now 22-8 on the season and must wait two weeks to play again in the opening round of the NAIA National Tournament.

"It was a match of missed opportunities," CSM Coach Rick Pruett said. "In sets one and two we started so strong and then we just got complacent about two-thirds of the way into each set and ended up giving them both away.

"We got back to our safety and played not to lose. On a positive note, we blocked a lot better and played better defense, but we just didn't get the offense that we needed from a majority of our players."

Grace Werner led the Flames with 12 kills, while teammate Lexie Langley had nine, Kamryn Willman finished with eight and both Alex Radcliffe and Morgan Ramsey contributed seven. Setter Lauren Anderson had 29 set assists and Miranda Ring added 10. Defensively, Rachel Cushing compiled 27 digs, Krissy Radicia finished with 13 and Anderson added 12. Azaria Green had a team-high seven block assists.

"Rachel was a highlight with 27 digs and Grace led us with 12 kills," Pruett said.

Midland advances to the GPAC Postseason Tournament semifinals to face Northwestern College on Wednesday. The Flames will now sit and wait to learn their fate for the opening round of the NAIA tournament.

"We will practice hard these next two weeks and be ready for our next match on Nov. 18," Pruett said.